Dr. McKechnie is the Interim Pastor at Sardis Presbyterian Church. Dave reveals, "I wake up enthusiastic about each new day-anticipating new things happening in my life, in the lives of my family, and in the lives of other members of the Body of Christ." Join us at Sardis Presbyterian Church for worship at 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. each Sunday.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Guest Post: "Passions of the Heart"

Passionate.What does it mean to be truly passionate
about something?Dictionary.com defines
passionate as “compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong
feeling.”The older I get the more often
I find myself using this word.I think
it is because over time I have seen how the things we are passionate about can
take us places in life and guide us where we need to be… where God wants us to
be.The key is being open to the
stirrings in our hearts; the passions that God places there pushing us toward
doing His work in this world.

The journey
God has taken me on has been led by various passions over time.Growing up on a National Audubon Society Sanctuary
instilled a deep passion in me for nature conservation and the
environment.This has played out in many
ways throughout my life.A few years
after I had children I was searching for my passion; I needed something to fill
my heart with satisfaction beyond motherhood.Then one evening God opened a door for me that changed my life and my
family’s life.We were having supper
with a group of couples from Sardis, and Ashley Meeks introduced me to Heather
Ditillo, her friend who had just accepted a job with an organization called
BeadforLife.Heather told me all about
the organization and how it empowers impoverished women in Uganda to start
their own businesses.She showed me the
beautiful recycled paper bead jewelry that the organization sells for the women
and told me stories about services they provide for the women and children in
Uganda.I was hooked!She pushed all my passion buttons and my
heart was flush with excitement to get involved.Fast forward six years and I am a Community
Partner volunteer with BeadforLIfe.I
have a full inventory of the jewelry and other items the women make in Uganda
that I sell for them, and, I get to do public speaking for them; educating
people about the plight of people living in the Third World.

Until last
May I thought I knew what life was like for these women because I had read
articles, I had seen videos and pictures, heard heartbreaking stories and I
knew my facts and figures; 85% of people on the planet live in developing
countries.Of the 15% living in the
First World only 2% live like we do without major financial concerns.Little did I know God had a plan to open my
eyes far beyond my expectations when He put another life changing event in my
lap.

Last May I
had the opportunity to go to Uganda with other BeadforLife Community
Partners.I spent 16 days traveling
throughout the country seeing their programs in place.We visited women who live in slums in
Kampala, women who live in rural agricultural areas, and women in Northern
Uganda who collect shea nuts for shea body products. We also visited the
beautiful young girls who are sponsored to go to school by BeadforLife, as well
as an orphanage in Kampala.

These
are some of the talented orphans at M-Lisada orphanage in Kampala. M-Lisada
stands for Music, Life Skills And Destitution Alleviation. All of the children
there are taught a performance art including band, African dance and
acrobatics.

Arriving in
the Third World is shocking.The sheer
mass of people alone is overwhelming.There are people and children all over this country.Overpopulation is just a word in the first
world but it is a condition in developing nations that hits you hard when you
arrive.Everything we take for granted
they live without: electricity, clean indoor running water, grocery stores,
transportation, free education, security, healthcare… our worlds are so vastly
different it is hard to believe we all live on the same planet.They live on what they and their neighbors
can grow or raise.Everyone
struggles.The measure of success is how
much, or how little, you have to struggle.If you are lucky enough to have a garden and a house, you and your
children and their children will be much better off than most families in
Uganda.However, nobody has an indoor
kitchen or an indoor bathroom and the houses are probably about the size of
your dining room.Possessions are not of
importance, just the basics to survive; a cooking pot that can be balanced on
three rocks outside with room to build a fire underneath, some bowls (no need
for spoons or forks, everyone eats with their fingers), a mat to put on the
floor to sit and sleep on, and maybe, if you are lucky, a change of clothes.In that respect I found Africa to be simple
and liberating, they are not bound to their possessions like we are.

Despite all
of this, these people were joyful.Everyone we met sang and danced through their struggles together and
found joy in their relationships with each other and in their strong
relationship with God.By the end of the
trip I realized that our First World clutter (devices, television, Facebook, maintaining
our possessions, the pursuit of more possessions, etc.) interferes in our
relationship with God. They were proud to show us their businesses, houses
crops etc.I drove and walked great
distances, sometimes through slums, to see pigs, corn fields, rice patties,
gardens, goats and houses.This is their
wealth and the possessions they are proud to show off.I heard so many amazing stories of strife
that moved me, including a woman, Mary’s account of being abducted and
tortured three times by the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army, Joseph Kony’s
soldiers) when she was seven months pregnant.Her entire experience was just heartbreaking, unimaginable, and so hard
to listen to, and yet when we left her she had us stand in a circle with her
and she prayed for us.She prayed that
God would keep us safe, take care of us and our families and grant us long
healthy lives.This was one of the most
humbling experiences I have ever had.

Finally it
was time to come home.I had been
lectured about “re-entry”.Mark, the
leader of our trip, prepared us for how difficult it would be to return.He told us about the flood of emotions we
would feel and to be patient with your family and friends who simply would not
understand what you had seen and experienced.To say this trip changed my life
is an understatement.Once your eyes
have been opened to what life is like in a developing nation, you never look at
the First World the same again.I came
back incredibly grateful for what I have and with a greater sense of
responsibility for helping those I left behind.God opened my eyes and ignited my passion beyond what I ever thought
possible through this trip.

At first I
felt guilty for having my big house and big car, I was disgusted by the amount
of possessions we have and I was so thankful for the little things I took for
granted before I left: electricity, clean running water, indoor plumbing, the internet,
access to food, education and healthcare.These are the luxuries that 85% of the people on the planet long for,
desperately need or are dying because they don’t have, and we consider it our
right to have them.

Here is what
I hope you will take away from this blog post:Step back and put your life in perspective. Compare yourself to the
people in underdeveloped nations and to those living in poverty here in the
First World.Think about where you are on this planet instead of how you compare to
your neighbors in South Charlotte.Put your life next to someone who has no electricity, no running water
or indoor plumbing, no local grocery store, no job or job prospect, no access
to healthcare, no transportation, and no education.Most of the people in our world live this way.We are the minority on this planet which
gives us incredible power that most of us take for granted, simply because we
were lucky enough to be born here.We have
a voice.We are listened to.My friends in Uganda know that and see us as
powerful because of our First World status.One person’s voice in the First World can change the course of hundreds
of people’s lives in the Third World.God needs us to use this voice and this energy to help those less fortunate.Don’t waste your power- you are one of the
very few people on the planet who has it.

And finally,
be open to the passions that God stirs in your soul throughout the different
seasons in your life.Take note of what
First World clutter is taking up your energy, take a break from it and be still.Pay attention to Him pulling you in the direction
of your heart.In my experience, the
rewards are far greater than the costs.

This
is Sharon. She is one of the girls in BeadForLife's Girls Education
program. All of the girls in the program have extremely high test scores,
but their families are living in extreme poverty and can't afford to send their
daughters to school. After meeting this amazing young woman we were fortunate
to became her sponsors.

Elizabeth Campbell
has been a member of Sardis for 10 years.She and her husband Mitch are currently on the leadership team for the
Contemporary Christian Issues Class.Elizabeth has served as a Deacon and on several committees at
Sardis.They have two children, Ethan (11)
and Grace (9). She loves to travel, read, exercise, and spend time with family
and friends.

Wow!!! It's so refreshing to hear that someone puts the lives of others before themselves. Thanks for encouraging us to answer the call when God calls. God bless you and your family for walking the walk.Good luck with this project. LGC